This morning Scott & I had breakfast beneath a troop of howler monkeys... Beginners luck...

Its only Scott's second day here, but the monkeys seem to like him. We found a small soda stand on the beach, which was really just a mud hut that happened to serve food. We relocated away from the mud floors to sit on their chairs out-front with a better view. Big mistake. The misquotes had us for breakfast, and we quickly moved back "inside", if you can call it that.

The owner of the place was thrilled to have a moment to talk with his customers, since apparently this is something he doesn't get to do a lot. He was extra passionate about his country's history, especially with the United States, and it turned into a very special moment. The man had tears in his eyes while describing the Peace Corps' efforts during his childhood. As far as he was concerned, JFK was his older brother, and he even gave us a discount on breakfast simply because we were Americans.

Let me digress for a moment, since I did not post yesterday. I might have spoiled Scott by taking him to Cafe de Playa for breakfast on his first day here. This particular cafe is a beautiful little hacienda style secret that is only noticeable if you wander down to my side of town. It just happens to be directly across the street from my place, but maybe I should have saved that for day two or three.

Anyways, later in the afternoon, I drove Scott over to the Four Seasons resort, on Papagayo Peninsula. One of Scott's favorite things to do is crash the lounge of a 5 star hotel, and there are few hotels in the world that compare to this resort.

After a 45 minute drive out of Coco, we arrived at a lagoon that literally stopped us in our tracks. We only made it about 5 feet into this palace when we pulled the car over and started snapping pictures. I have a great set of photos that I will turn into a large panoramic picture (aka: 140 megapixel picture)... But that will take some time... so stay tuned...

The Four Seasons hotel is "mind-bottling"... The first guard gate we came to asked us if we had reservations. Somehow we managed to talk our way onto the property, and slipped past the first gate. After another seven kilometers, we were greeted by the second guard, who again asked to verify our reservations. This is the most elaborate setup that either of us have seen, and it was truly impressive.

Keep in mind that we have visited several castles and churches in London, monuments and museums in Paris, many thousand year old temples in Beijing and Shanghai... These are global relics, such as Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall, all of which did not have as tight of security as the Four Seasons in Costa Rica.

Along our drive into the resort, we were graced by some sort of mini-toucan, and a couple of anteaters, neither of which we could identify. Perhaps this hotel grows its own wild-life... it was that intense. We almost expected the peacocks to have the Four Season's logo ingrained into their plumage.

The lobby was an adventure unto its own. Although small, it was overwhelmingly beautiful. A short walk downstairs took us into the "Tico" lounge, where we had dinner. The sun was setting, and we quickly found ourselves on the beach that is unlike any other.

Whoever found this cove must be given their rewards, because the scene cannot be captured by any amount of photography. The sand under foot is plush and smooth, almost silk like. Walk a few dozen meters, and the sand changes into washed up coral. Another couple dozen meters, and you're walking in volcanic ash. Pictures do not do this place justice.

It was inevitable that we left virtual Eden on a relatively sad note. How can you leave paradise with a smile on your face? The drive home was filled with daydreams of the memories we had just lived.

Pura Vida....... indeed....

I managed to lose the key to my front door today. It fell out of my pocket on my run this morning. I've never lost a key before on a run, and what a place for it to happen.

I retraced my route, but didn't find it. I stopped by my buddy Jim's house to use his phone. Luckily Anthony had a spare key, and sent our friend Alberto over to let me in. However, the spare was for the back door, and I lost the key to the front door.

So it looks like I'll be buying the owner a new lock for his front door, and unexpected expense. No matter though, at least I was able to get back into the house and not stuck out in the rain.

Its 7:50pm, and I'm exhausted... long day. Scott arrives tomorrow, so posts will probably slow down. 'Night :)

Today I went for my first run since I injured my leg about two weeks ago. As short as the run was, it certainly felt great to be running again.

After my run, I did yoga! This is the first time I've tried yoga, and I liked it. I downloaded a sample routine from iTunes, and think I'll go back and get some more. It is a great way to stretch, and makes it easy to follow along with a routine. The female trainer is fun to look at also, so that helps.

This evening I saw some kids fishing in the ocean during sunset. They were not using polls, just tossing their lines into a large school of fish, rodeo style. I sat and watched for a few minutes, then ran back to the house to get my camera. Unfortunately they were gone by the time I got back.

Scott will be here in 48 hours, and I'm really looking forward to his visit. His timing couldn't be better. I am nearly out of money, and have been rationing my cash so much lately that I have honestly been a little bored.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the country, besides just Coco where I live. Scott is renting a car during his two week visit, and I'm sure that will be put to good use. There are a lot of little beaches nearby, but the big attraction is the volcanoes.

I am really liking this HDR photography. My camera is great, and I really have enjoyed using it over the past few years. However, I am starting to recognize some of its limitations. First, it saves pictures in JPG format, which compresses the image to save room, but which also removes some of the details in the pictures.

Also, it does not do Auto-Bracketing, which is a great way to capture images for HDR processing. I can get away with what I have, manually adjusting the exposure between shots, but my eyes have been opened to what could be with a better camera...

Ok, last gripe. Since my camera is a point-and-shoot, I cannot change the lens. I think having a pocket camera for travel is perfect, but since I am not backpacking, and more stationary, I am starting to have a look at the more high-end cameras...

Welp, lots to do before Scott arrives... Pura Vida mis amigos...

These photos were captured on a Canon SD900 - 10 megapixel camera using a photography method called High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI). HDRI is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods.

For HDRI photography, several pictures of the same scene are taken with different levels of exposure. For the photos in this video, I took seven pictures of each scene with the exposure ranging from -2 stops to +2 stops using 2/3rds stop increments.

These layers were then combined using photo editing software, and adjusted to achieve the desired effect. Each picture can range from very realistic photos, all the up to the surrealistic, or even cartoonish.

As with any other image on this blog, you can click the picture to see it full size...

Such is the circle of life my friends. It looked like it had just washed up as I was walking by. On my way back past the dolphin, there were people starting to gather. Just down the beach was a backhoe working in someone's yard. I felt like asking them to come bury it, but didn't...

On a lighter note... I got to have breakfast with my parents this morning! Hay, video chat counts! We used to have Thursday morning breakfast together every week, for many many years, and that abruptly ended on my departure for Costa Rica.

We each setup our laptops on our respective kitchen tables, and it was a ton of fun. We video chatted for an hour and a half, from the USA to Costa Rica, all for free. Not a bad deal if ya ask me. You really gotta love modern technology, and the Internet, for letting us sit together from 2,985 miles apart (and yes, that is exactly how far apart we are).


Puffer Fish
This is a close up shot of a dried up puffer fish. I have seen these here on the beach before, and almost stepped on one once. Puffer fish are the second–most poisonous vertebrate in the world, after the Golden Poison Frog. Stepping on one of these guys has "bad day" written all over it.

Pineapple Remains
Seen more often, but much less deadly, are pieces of pineapples laying around. Stepping on one might not cause you to lose a foot, or even a toe, but would certainly send you back to your room for a few days. Ironically, they are bigger, easier to see, and easier to avoid, than the puffer fish.

Sand Shark
Ok, this is just a blurry picture of a thorn from the local vegetation... but would still be a painful surprise. I tried to push down on it, and it didn't budge. This is no flimsy thorn to mess with.
Hmm... come to think of it...
Maybe I should have removed those items from the beach...

This is kind of a cool shot...

At the top you can see Lucky, my "pet" gecko. Apparently he has found himself a girlfriend, which you can see in the middle of the picture. She's on the other side of the curtains...

Before I left California, my Mom gave me a first-aid kit, which came in very handy today. The sun is shining for the first time in a few days, so I decided to go for a nice ocean swim this morning.

When I swim, I walk down to the beach barefoot. I'm pretty sure that if I left my sandals sitting on the beach for a half hour, they'd be missing by the time I got back.

Unfortunately, because its been raining so much lately, the sidewalks here are very slippery with mud, mud, & more mud. I was walking down my neighbor's driveway and my feet slid out from under me. Because I was carrying my SwiMP3, and rather than dropping them, I just kept my fist closed and hit pretty hard. I landed on the knuckles of my right hand, and scrapped them open pretty bad.

Talk about a very intense swim. My knuckles were bleeding, it was high tide, and the waves were pretty rough. I was forced to swim further away from shore than usual, and I just kept imagining a shark was following my blood trail in the water. To make matters worst, I was the only one in the water as far as I could see. People were sitting on the beach, but not swimming...

To top it all off, my SwiMP3 didn't even work, so I had no tunes. This left me with only my thoughts & imagination to run wild. Honestly, I'm surprised I even got in the water. At the end of it all, I always feel great after a swim, and I even got some sun too, so it was all worth it.

Over weekend the condo next to me got rented. This is the first time I've seen people in there since I moved in. I hadn't really noticed how perfect my setup is here, until I had neighbors living on the other side of the wall from me. Thankfully, they left yesterday, and I now have my duplex back to myself again.

I will leave you with this thought... This moment in time is the furthest my immediate family has ever been apart from each other:

My lil sister is in Huntington.
My lil brother is in Garden Grove.
My big brother is in Catalina.
My parents are in Almanor.
And I'm in Costa Rica...

I'm not sure what was going on last night, but there was a fireworks show down on the beach.

I climbed up on the roof, and had a decent view, even though it was raining.

When I first heard the start of the show, I thought someone was firing a gun outside. I actually went in the other room and ducked down behind a wall.... I'm a dork. After the shots continued for a minute, I stuck my head out of the door and saw what was going on.

I get to wake up to this every morning. It is the light reflecting off the pool outside, shining up through the curtains, and it always reminds me of the Blue Grotto in Greece.

The summer after high school I got the opportunity to visit Europe with my girlfriend at the time. One of the places we visited was Greece, and the Blue Grotto on the small island of Megisti. There is a cave there which has a small opening just above the water line.

The rocks surrounding the cave come down off the hill and stop a few feet under water. This allows sunlight to bounce down through the ocean and fill up the cave with a turquoise-blueish color.

During a low tide, the water recedes just far enough to sneak into the cave on small gondolas. Once inside, the cavern becomes an amazing soundscape, and the Greek tour guides all start to serenade their passengers.

After a quick trip around the cave, it is equally as tricky to get back out. Everyone has to lay down on their back in the gondola, and hang on. The guide must time it just right, and catch a wave to slip back out into the open ocean...

That was a fun trip...

Just a quick post to share this picture I took the other day. This one's for you Mom...

I swam a mile in the ocean this afternoon. There were a surprising number of fish swimming below me, which made the swim a little creepy.

Swimming didn't seem to hurt my leg as bad as running, so at least that'll keep me busy while my leg heals.

I brought my SwiMP3 goggles, which lets me listen to music, using bone-conduction, while I swim... Nerd Alert! But they really help me focus on relaxing and getting into a rhythm. I made it about half way down the beach, so I have myself a new goal.

I went to bed last night with Lucky climbing around on the wall behind me (for those that don't know, Lucky is the gecko missing half his tail that lives with me). I saw him change from dark brown, while on my dresser, to a light brown, while on the wall & ceiling. How cool is that! I woke up with a bunch of bug bites though... Geckos don't bite, do they?

Love you Mom, miss you!

This morning I kept seeing something flip a fin out of the water. There are usually jumping fish, but rarely a fin so close to the shore. After a few minutes of watching, I recognized the shape... a stingray! Later this evening, I happened to take another walk on the beach, and saw yet another stingray. Too cool...

So I guess this picture answers the question about what their plans were with the boat. She has simply been reduced to a pile of rubble on the sand. Maybe the waves will carry her out to sea...

My leg seems to be healing, although slower than I would like. I can now lift all five toes of my left foot off the ground. I know, wow, what an accomplishment. I miss running, and haven't been able to run all week. I'm going to try swimming in the morning, and looking forward to that.

I found this beautiful community up on the hill today. The buildings look like new construction, and the entrance was just breathtaking. In the middle of the stairs is a waterfall, which I could hear from well around the corner. Imagine coming home to this everyday, how peaceful it must feel to walk up those stairs and jump in the pool. Probably not a bad way to start your day either!

Some of the streets around town are really fun to walk down. This is one of them. I thought I had been on every street around town, but this was a new one today. It is the bordering wall to the complex pictured above. I didn't know this area existed, so its good to know that there are still things to discover around town.

I have developed a couple of iPhone apps between today & yesterday. One of them I am really excited about, and will post more info when its complete. As far as I can tell, it is unique within the App Store, which is pretty amazing considering there are over 225,000 apps currently available. The other app was built in preparation of a larger app I am planning, which I'm also very excited about.

Ok, last thing from today. I caught a video of this kid water skiing on a surf board! They were going up & down the beach, fairly close to the shore. They even tried to ski on a boogie board, but that didn't work out too well.

Hope they didn't hit any stingrays...

Ok, that was a little bit scary...

I was up on the rooftop patio just now, testing out a little GPS app I wrote for the iPhone. The roof seems to be a good spot to get a strong signal, for obvious reasons.

The weather is clear, not many clouds, sunny, warm... and I was holding my iPhone up to the sky...

Out of nowhere, right in front of me, well within my field of vision, came a huge bolt of lightening, clearly visible even though the sun is shining.

The thunder hit me in well under 1 second, and I could feel it. This means the lightening strike was less than 1000 feet away. That is closer than 3 football fields!

I'm a little bit shaken up, but not as much as if I had been hit :)

ps: as I'm writing this, the power has dipped several times, and it has started to rain. More thunder is happening now in the distance, and steadily getting louder...

I thought this was a giant spider crawling across my living room floor. Nope, a tiny crab!!

Yesterday my water got shut off at the house, and I'm not sure why. The valve out front, which connects to the main water supply, has been leaking over the past week or so. I thought they might be working on that, but there was no-one around.

Thankfully my water got turned back on sometime after I went to bed. However, the valve out front is still leaking! Its a terrible waste of water. Glad I'm not paying that bill...

I asked my brother last night about a problem I've been having with my left foot. The best way to describe it is "foot drop", which means I can't lift my left foot off the ground. I must have torn something during training, because its been like this for a while now.

I didn't really think much about it until I was at the grocery store over the weekend. I was trying to kneel down onto my left knee. It was as if my foot was completely numb, or just non-existent. It gave out immediately, and I landed on top of my foot. Well that caught my attention, and the attention of several other people nearby.

It does seem to be getting a little better, because this morning I can raise my big toe again. I still can't get the ball of my foot off the ground, but that'll come. I've been walking around town like the hunchback of notre dame, dragging my left foot along the ground as I walk... kinda funny actually...

Today marks the one month mark. Seems like that went by really fast...

I can now check off Pig on my list of animals seen around town. I turned up a side street coming in off the beach and found this guy sitting on the side of the road. From a distance it looked like a giant rock, and as I approached it seemed more like a large dog. Then it moved & grunted, and I nearly ran away...

About two weeks from today, my buddy Scott will be arriving, and I am really looking forward to his visit. The current plans are for him to stay about two weeks, so it will be a welcomed vacation for him & a nice long visit for me.

Over the past week I have been feeling more and more homesick. There are specific things that I miss about home, like my dog, my family, my friends... but some strange things too, like a DVR, my road-cycle, a dishwasher... Some moments are tougher than others, and for the most part I am content with my adventure. It is a bit unsurprising that I would be feeling distant at this point in my travels, exactly one month in... I just need more time.

Last week I saw a couple of guys with a large bulldozer trying to pull a boat off their property, and back into the ocean. It looked like the boat had been sitting for a while, but was in decent enough shape to sail. I didn't have my camera at the moment, bummer.

Yesterday I ran into the same group of people, and they had managed to drag their boat down to the waterline. I sat and watched for a while, and it seemed to be stuck in the sand.

The sand here is very thick, unlike the fine-grain sand in Southern California. It comes from the volcanoes, is dark-brown to dark-gray, and slightly coarse compared to bleach-blond sand. Its no wonder they had so much trouble, and it certainly seems like there's an easier way to do this.

Unfortunately, they didn't succeed in their launching efforts, and decided to let the boat sit on the beach for a day. At the time, the weather was mild, and showed no sign of turning.

Later that evening however, the weather picked up, and although it wasn't the biggest rain we've had here, the wind was enough to buried the boat overnight. So now it sits, half sunk in the sand, and surely more damaged than when they started. Maybe they're waiting for high tide, or maybe they've given up on it, but at some point its going to take a bit of work to get her back out to sea.

Le Tour de France has started, and the World Cup has ended. Congrats to Spain, and my condolences to Lance. Yesterday Lance had a terrible day in the saddle, and looks like any dreams he may have had about a podium finish have been extinguished.

Today I plan to finish my iPhone development book. I have been studying nonstop lately, and really have enjoyed learning this new programming language, once I got past the fundamentals. I am really looking forward to starting my own development, and laying this studying business to rest.

Monkey Monkey Monkey!!!

I saw my first monkey today. This morning on my walk into town I heard a howler in the distance, at least I think it was one.

But this afternoon I confirmed a sighting. The picture is a little too far off to really see it, but its there. Click on the image to see a full size shot.

Unfortunately, the video I took did not come out very well. The howler had moved into the trees you see on the right, and was by then covered in dense foliage.

We just happened to make a detour into Coco Bay on our way back from Tamarindo this afternoon. The streets there are covered with an over hanging canopy, a place that monkeys are known to visit. However, this particular monkey must have been cast out of it's troop, since they are rarely seen alone like this.

Tomorrow some friends and I are taking a boat out to go fishing, hopefully from mid-afternoon to sunset. Not a bad way to spend the 4th of July, but I am starting to get a little homesick. Last night I caught an episode of the Dog Whisperer, and started to miss my pup so bad that I actually had to change the channel.

My lil sis is going to host the 4th's festivals on my parents lawn tomorrow. My folks are on their way back from the Lake House, by way of a wedding in San Francisco. Really, the 4th is a block wide party, but because our home is in the middle of the track, it has become a natural gathering place for food & lawn chairs. I'm sure she'll do fine, and she has a great guy to back her up. The boy can cook, and I'll just leave it at that.

Its 8:30pm, past my bedtime, and I'm exhausted. Its been a long day, and I was up pretty late last night playing scrabble with my brother.

I'll get some good pictures of my boat ride tomorrow...